George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi arrived at Papunya in 1962 after walking in from the Gibson Desert in Western Australia. When the Desert Art painting movement began at Papunya in 1971 George assisted other senior artists with their paintings.
Then he began painting his own works around 1976 with the encouragement of senior lawman Nosepeg Tjupurrula. The artwork created by George Tjungurrayi in the 1970’s and 1980’s was typical of the imagery used by major Pintupi artists like Anatjari Tjamptjinpa and Yala Yala Gibbs.
By the mid 1980s George Tjungurrayi began a more experimental phase in his art, embracing colours beyond the earth based palette. His subject matter remained the ceremonies and stories bound up with the journeys of the Ancestors told through the Tingari cycle of sacred songs. These narratives related to sacred sites including his own birth place Wala Wala, and other locations around Kiwirrkura and Lake Mackay across to Kilpinya to the north of Kintore.
Paintings from the 1980s by senior Papunya artists including George’s brother Willy Tjungurrayi and fellow artists Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Mick Namarari open up a new phase of the Desert art movement.
The artworks begin to move away from the traditional narrative conventions embraced by the original founding artists. Now the paintings have a different energy and power emanating from the source of the Tingari law without referring to specific moments. The designs are recognisable from the fluted carvings made of fine parallel lines and interlocking motifs that decorate men’s ceremonial items and sacred objects.
George Tjungurrayi continued to build his artistic reputation with solo exhibitions in the late 1990s and representation in the Wynne Prize and in major public and private collections. He remains one of the great names of the early Papunya movement still creating major works today.
George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi arrived at Papunya in 1962 after walking in from the Gibson Desert in Western Australia. When the Desert Art painting movement began at Papunya in 1971 George assisted other senior artists with their paintings.
Then he began painting his own works around 1976 with the encouragement of senior lawman Nosepeg Tjupurrula. The artwork created by George Tjungurrayi in the 1970’s and 1980’s was typical of the imagery used by major Pintupi artists like Anatjari Tjamptjinpa and Yala Yala Gibbs.
By the mid 1980s George Tjungurrayi began a more experimental phase in his art, embracing colours beyond the earth based palette. His subject matter remained the ceremonies and stories bound up with the journeys of the Ancestors told through the Tingari cycle of sacred songs. These narratives related to sacred sites including his own birth place Wala Wala, and other locations around Kiwirrkura and Lake Mackay across to Kilpinya to the north of Kintore.
Paintings from the 1980s by senior Papunya artists including George’s brother Willy Tjungurrayi and fellow artists Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Mick Namarari open up a new phase of the Desert art movement.
The artworks begin to move away from the traditional narrative conventions embraced by the original founding artists. Now the paintings have a different energy and power emanating from the source of the Tingari law without referring to specific moments. The designs are recognisable from the fluted carvings made of fine parallel lines and interlocking motifs that decorate men’s ceremonial items and sacred objects.
George Tjungurrayi continued to build his artistic reputation with solo exhibitions in the late 1990s and representation in the Wynne Prize and in major public and private collections. He remains one of the great names of the early Papunya movement still creating major works today.
2020 The Iconic George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi exhibition, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery, Melbourne
2018 George Tjungurrayi: Major Works, Utopia Art, Sydney
2016 Paintings, Utopia Art, Sydney
2016 Desert Line, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2013 Pulka Canvas, Utopia Art, Sydney
2011 Space and Place, Utopia Art, Sydney
2008 Between the lines, Utopia Art, Sydney
2003 Paintings from Mamultjulkulnga and Kirrimalunya, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2002 Utopia Art, Sydney
2002 New Fields, Utopia Art, Sydney
1998 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
1997 George Tjungurrayi – first solo show, Utopia Art, Sydney
1989 – 2002 Unforeseen , FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane